All Chapters of Faking It With Hockey Alpha: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

Aurora.The sharp, freezing wind swept through the gaping hole where the window used to be, whistling past shattered furniture and carrying the bitter scent of smoke and city rain. Yet nobody moved to close the doors or sweep up the mess.Adrian stood in the center of the ruined living room like a monolith, his dark eyes fixed on the terrace ledge. The authority radiating off him was almost suffocating, so absolute that Roland immediately took a half-step back, bowing his head in a subtle gesture of compliance I had never seen him perform before.The arrogant hockey captain who routinely argued with refs and ignored board members was instantly submissive in his father’s presence. It confirmed that whatever terrifying hierarchy governed their world, Adrian sat near the very top of it.“He marked the room,” Adrian stated, his voice a low rumble that sounded less like a man speaking and more like heavy stones grinding together. “He left his scent on the glass to tell the Council that she

Aurora.The sub-basement elevator car hummed, its steel walls reflecting the harsh, fluorescent glow of the overhead strips. Roland stood right in front of me, his hands holding mine so tightly that I could feel the rhythmic, elevated pulse racing through his palms.The air down here smelled faintly of engine oil and damp concrete, a sharp contrast to the cold, icy wind that had rushed through his ruined living room upstairs.His question hung between us, heavy and persistent.“My mother never talked about her family,” I said, my voice sounding small against the steady mechanical hum of the elevator. “She died when Lila and I were still in grade school, Roland. Whenever I asked my father about her parents, he always changed the subject or grew strangely quiet.”“Think back, Aurora,” Roland urged gently, stepping even closer until his boots nearly touched mine. “There had to be something. A town, an old heirloom, a name she used when she sang to Lila.”I searched through the dusty corn

Aurora.“Who are we talking about?” Roland demanded, stepping squarely in front of me to block his father’s view. “If a high-level Council operative scrubbed her family records, we need a name before Magnus figures out the source of the leak.”“I don’t have a name,” Adrian admitted, crossing his arms over his chest while watching the exit ramp. “I only see the shape of the cover-up. The pattern of accidents and bureaucratic oversights that kept the enforcement teams away from the Hayes family was not luck. A missing birth certificate in the regional database, a corrupted blood-type file at the hospital, a convenient electrical fire in a county records office right before an audit... these things do not happen in quick succession by accident. It was a careful, calculated design.”“Are you suggesting I have a supernatural fairy godmother watching over me?” I asked, forcing a strained laugh to keep my mounting panic in check. “Because if someone had the power to manipulate government dat

Aurora.Finding out Roland could turn into a predatory animal during a full moon was strange, but it felt like a fantasy novel brought to life. Finding out my father was alive felt personal. It meant every single tear I had shed over his closed casket was a waste of grief.It meant the five long years I spent taking extra freelance shifts, skipping meals, and exhausting my bank accounts to clear his ruined reputation were built on a choice he made without us. He had picked up his coat, staged a violent car crash, and simply walked away.“He chose it,” I whispered, the words tasting like ash on my tongue as I took a backward step toward the steel elevator frame.“Aurora, don’t,” Roland said, stepping with me and reaching out to anchor my trembling shoulder with his large hand.He didn’t try to hand me a corporate line or explain the complex politics of ancient wolf courts like his father kept doing. He just stayed close, steady, and present. It was the exact same quiet solidarity he ha

Roland.I didn’t wait for the coach to drop the puck. I turned on my heel, dug my blades into the ice, and skated straight to the team bench, hopping over the boards before anyone could ask what I was doing.I took the metal stairs leading into the lower stands two at a time, my heavy hockey skates clattering against the concrete steps. Aurora didn’t move as I approached her section. She remained frozen in her plastic chair, her arms locked straight and her phone held out like a hot coal she couldn’t bring herself to drop.I leaned over her shoulder to read the glowing screen, and the wolf inside me surged up fast, ugly, and lethal.It wasn’t fear that made my jaw lock and my muscles coil tight. It was a scorching, blinding fury. The image on her display was a live, high-resolution photo of the back of her head, taken from high up in the north upper bowl of the arena.The angle captured her sitting alone in the empty stands while I skated down on the ice below. Whoever sent the messag